Corporate governance

WALL, N.J.-First Financial FCU said its parking lots "were filled" on Nov. 5 when it opened 23 new full relationships. Previous transfers were made prior to Nov. 5 and the credit union said it will continue to promote Bank Transfer Month throughout November.

TINTON, N.J.-United Teletech Credit Union placed banners on its branches and electronic signs near the road to announce that it was the "Bank Transfer Headquarters" of northern New Jersey.

PORTLAND, Ore.-More than 200 people here marched from a downtown branch of JPMorgan Chase to Northwest Resource FCU on Bank Transfer Day. Of those, 17 opened new accounts.

DALLAS-Texas Trust Credit Union offered a cure for "F.E.E. Syndrome." The credit union said "F.E.E. Syndrome" is its term "for the weariness consumers feel in the face of irritating and ever-growing number of fees that their financial institutions are imposing or increasing.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Schools Financial Credit Union said Nov. 5 was its biggest day for new members of 2011, and helped to cap a record October during which it opened 1,064 new accounts. Similar volumes were seen at Landmark Credit Union in Wisconsin, which said it added 945 new members, 733 of whom opened checking accounts. And in Berkeley, Calif., Cooperative FCU reported opening accounts for 316 people in October, nearly triple the number of accounts opened in October 2010.

HARRISBURG, Penn.-At Pennsylvania State Employees CU, new account sign-ups jumped by more than 50% on Nov. 5, part of a big month for membership growth.

SAN JOSE, Calif.-Sara Holtz, marketing manager with San Jose CU, said the credit union was "thrilled" with traffic on Nov. 5. "I don't know what we were expecting but it was everything we were expecting and more. We opened 30 memberships today, which is half of what we normally do in a month."

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas-The Texas league reported that 47,000 Texans moved their business to credit unions in the month leading up to Nov. 2, representing $326 million in asssets. That rate is approximately four times the standard growth rate, the league reported. Among Texas CUs reporting increases were First Community Credit Union, Houston, which had seen a 43% increase, and Randolph-Brooks FCU in San Antonio, which said it opened "dozens of new accounts."

RALEIGH, N.C.-With other credit unions urging consumers to visit their branches on Bank Transfer Day, State Employees' Credit Union here offered some different advice: go somewhere else.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.-The name of a website rolled out by CO-OP Financial Services sums up the campaign materials it is now offering crdit unions: BanksDontLikeYou.com. The humorous ads CO-OP has created urge consumers dissatisfied with the service at their banks to switch to credit unions and use the tag line "Banks Don't Like You. Credit Unions Do."

BATTLE CREEK, Mich.-OMNI Community CU here said traffic increased only slightly on Bank Transfer Day, with new accounts up by just three over the same period one year earlier. OCCU did report a spike in call volume to its call center.

BETHPAGE, N.Y.-Bethpage FCU said it opened a record 1,471 new checking accounts opened during its one-week Bank Transfer Day promotion, up significantly from the 383 new accounts opened during the same week last year. Of the 1,471 new accounts, 672 were opened on Saturday, Nov. 5th, Bank Transfer Day. In addition, Bethpage has seen a $100-million increase in deposits since Sept. 29, 2011, a 149% increase from the same period the year prior.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board next week will vote on a proposed community expansion for Finance Center FCU to cover about 1.8 million residents of metropolitan Indianapolis, which would be one of the biggest community charters in recent years.

BREA, Calif. – Credit Union of Southern California, in the process of integrating Pomona’s Inland Empire CU after this summer’s acquisition of the $40-million credit union, has applied to state regulators to add North Orange County CU.

BETHPAGE, N.Y. – Credit unions around the country are reporting their best one-day membership gains for Saturday’s Bank Transfer Day, with hopes the momentum will continue building in the coming weeks and months.

WARMINSTER, Penn.-The $490-million Freedom Credit Union is rolling out a Fall schedule of advertising for its "I Choose Freedom" campaign.

ST. LOUIS – St. Bernadette CU was approved by the Division of CUs to serve all 1 million residents of surrounding St. Louis County.

SPOKANE, Wash. – Horizon CU is acquiring $63-million Montana First CU to create a $480-million inter-state credit union.

HARRISBURG, Penn. – Other credit unions also reported strong increases in traffic and interest, although at least one called Bank Transfer Day a “bust.” Separately, Credit Union Journal has uploaded a number of photos related to Bank Transfer Day on its Facebook page.

WALL STREET – The month-long Occupy Wall Street demonstration continued to bear fruit for local credit unions, with representatives from four nearby community development credit unions on hand at the Zuccoti Park protests Saturday helping participants and passersby join a credit union.